It was Chicago GM Stan Bowman who said it, but he could have been speaking for any number of general managers who were pursuing free agents Ryan Suter and Zach Parise prior to their July 4 signing with the Minnesota Wild. During a Wednesday night chat with reporters, he summed up the feelings on the chase.
"You can't dwell on it for too long," Bowman said. "Ultimately, it came down to a family decision ... When that's the thing that's the tipping point, you have to wish them well and move on to the next matter at hand."
The consensus has been that the market would loosen up dramatically once Parise and Suter signed, and former Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Matt Carle was quickly snatched up off the market Wednesday night by Tampa Bay with a six-year deal worth $5.5 million per season. It doesn't leave much left in free agency, which means the trades could be coming next, with Rick Nash, Bobby Ryan and Keith Yandle as the best options. Here's a look at where some high-profile teams will turn next:
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- Senior NHL writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Wrote for The Sporting News
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
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